Distributor



Nov. 16 1926.

E. C. LITCHFIELD DISTRIBUTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 18 1924 ZL:7I 30 IN VE/YTOR BY ,4 TTQ/FNE Y.

Nov. 16 1926.

E. C. LITCHFIELD DISTRIBUTOR Filed pt. 18 19 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l/w/gvrm:

ATTQQNEX Patented Nov. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE EDGAR C. LITCHFIELD, OF CEDAR FALLS, IOWA.

DISTRIBUTOR.

Application filed September 18, 1924. Serial No. 738,441.

be discharged through an end or side always,

so far as I am aware, dump their contents in a single heap or substantially so. There are many instances where material must be spread into a layer and therefore, when it is delivered in a dumping vehicle and deposited in a heap. it must afterwards be distributed by hand or machinery. Thus, in graveling or re-graveling on road work and in building concrete and asphalt pavement, the material must ultimately be distributed in a layer anywhere from one inch to six inches in depth and, if it is discharged in a heap from a dump wagon or truck, it must manually be shoveled to spread it out into a layer of the desired thickness.

The object of the present invention is to In carrying out my invention I provide the discharge outlet of the dumping body with what might be termed a measuring means driven at a speed proportionate to the speed of travel of the vehicle of which the dumping body is a part, so that for every given foot of travel of the vehicle there will be a predetermined quantityof material discharged therefrom. Viewed in one of its aspects, my invention may therefore be said to have for its object to produce means for automatically separating predetermined por- Q-tions ofthe contents of a dumping vehicle while the vehicle is moving, so as to permit the contents to'be evenly discharged over a surface across which the vehicle is traveling. A subsidiary object may be said to be an automatic regulation such that the depth of distribution will be independent of the speed of travel, of the vehicle,

It is not desirable to distribute all materials or even the samematerials under difobject to produce a simple and novel means.

for regulating thedischarge of the contents of a dumping vehicles'o as to permit a wide variation in depth of distribution from a traveling vehicle. a

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with' the @ccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the rear end of a common type of truck having a dumping body with a simple embodiment of my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the rear near corner of the dumping body and attachment, as it appears in Fig. 1, on a somewhat larger scale than Fig. 1 and having the supporting bracket and yoke for the friction wheel broken away; Fig. 3 is a front end view of the support- .ing bracket and yoke for the friction wheel;

Fig. 4 is aview similar to Fig. 1, showing the parts in dumping positions; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one end of the measuring device with its trunnion removed and Fig; 6 is a perspective view of one of the trunnions for the measuring device detached from the latter.

My invention has been illustrated in the drawings as applied in perhaps its most simple form to a type of dump motor truck in common use and, for the sake of brevity,

the detailed description will be confined to this particular exemplification, although it should be understoodthat my invention is applicable to other types of dumping bodies and to other vehicles than motor trucks.

'- Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a dumping body supported at about the middle on pedestals one side of each of which .is a quadrant of the gear wheel, as indicated at 2; the teeth on the pedestals meshing with -teeth on the longitudinal rack bars 3 fixed upon the frame 4 of the truck. When the body is in a horizontal position the front end is adapted to rest on a stationary post or support 5 rising from the frame. In frontof the body is located a'locking bar 6 hinged at its lower end, as indicated at 7 to the frame and having thereon two projections 8 and 9 spaced apart from each other in the direction of thelengthof the bar. '-'lhe projection 8, is adapted to overlie an ear- 10 on the front end of the dumping simplest form of such a measuring device is 7 body when the latter is in a horizontal position as shown in Fig. 1, to hold the front end of the body down on its support. When the locking bar is swung forward to carry the projection 8 from above the ear, the body may roll into an inclined position as shown in Fig. 4 and be held in that position by swinging the locking bar rearwardly until the projection 9 lies under the front end of the body and serves as a supporting Step therefor. All of the parts heretofore specifically described, together with the rear traction wheels 11 are old and well known and, of themselves, form no part of the present invention.

In this type of dumpingv truck there is usually a rear end gate normally closing the rear open end of the'body; the end gate being hinged at the upper edge so that, when the lower edge or end is unlatched and the body dumped, the end gate swings outwardly and permits the contents of the body to escape. The entire rear end of the body thus constitutes a discharge opening. In this discharge openingfwhich happens in this instance to be at the rear end of the device that acts as a closure or gate checks the free flow of material and compels the material to be discharged in comparatively small successive predetermined quantities. The preferred form of measuring .device or gate is, a revolvin structure that will receive a quantity 0 material from the load and discharge it as an individual mass. The

an end gate or vane journaled. so as to rotate about an axis extending through the middle thereof transversely of the dumping body. If a plurality of vanes are emfployed a structure made up of a plurality o pocketsflwill be produced, if the vanes are displaced angularly from each other. In the arrangement shown, there are in effect two vanes arranged at right angles to each other,

forming four pockets symmetrically disposed about the axis of rotation. The details 015 this particular-construction are best shown in Figs. 5 and 6. It will be seen that the vane 12.1s0f substantially the same size as would theordinary end gate while the other vane is made of two halves, 13 and 14 lying in the same plane on opposite sides of. the member 12. The three pieces or plates may conveniently be fastened together by angle irons 15 lying in the angles between the plates and riveted to the plates. The trunnions may conveniently be formed as shown in Fig. 6, each trunnion 16 having at its inner end an enlargement or flange 17; from which extends a .web 18 l-ying'on v the side opposite the trunnion 16 and in the lane containing the long axis of the latter.

- he plates are put away at their meeting edges or lines so that theweb 18 may be angle irons. Assuming that the regulating or measuring device takes the form just described, it is placed at'the rear end of the dumping body with its journals supported in suitable bearings at the rear ends of the side walls of the body. When the device is turned into such a position that one of the vanes is at right anglesto 'the bottom of the body, the device serves as an ordinary end gate to prevent the discharge of the contents, as long-as the device is held against rotation. Any suitable means may be employed for locking the measuring device against rotation. In the arrangement shown, there is an vL-shaped catch 19 pivotally mounted at the elbow or angle thereof on the underside of the body near the rear end. One arm of this catch is adapted to hook over the lower edge of, the ordinary end gate to prevent it from swinging outwardly, and it may serve in the same capacity to prevent the lower portion of the vertical vane of my improved measuring de vice from swinging outwardly. As is usual in this particular type of dumping truck,

is dumped and rolls toward the rear along the rack bars, the chain is drawn taut and trips the latch as shown in Fig. 4.

When the measuring end gate is ln'the position shown in Figs. 1 and 1, it serves to preventthe contents of the body from escaping. However, if the end gate is rotated,

p referably in the direction of the arrow in ig. 4, when the body is in a dumping position, successive predetermined quantities of material will be separated from the load and discharged. If, at the same time, the vehicle is'moving ahead, the contents will be spread in a layer whose depth depends on therelation between the speed of travel of the vehicle and the speed of rotation of the end ate. t erial from the body in co-ordination with the forward movement of the vehicle, some means must be provided for automatically operating the end .gate in synchronism with the'movement of the vehicle. This may conveniently be accomplished by driving the end gatefrom a wheel that runs on the surface over which the vehicle is traveling. Such an ararngemen't may take various different forms. Since there are already wheels present, in the form of rear traction embodiment of my invention that has been illlistrated. On one side of thevehicle body In order to regulate the flow of ma Ill ' wheels that support the vehicle, one of such able end gate.

is mounted a vertical swinging arm that may conveniently consist of two metal straps 23 and 24 spaced apart from each other and pivoted at their rear ends to the body in the vicinity of one of the journals on the rotat- On the pivot pin 25 for the swinging arm are rotatably mounted a connected spur gear 26 and sprocket wheel 27;

the spur gear meshing with a complemen-.

tary gear 28 on the end gate trunnion. Between the front ends of the two straps forming the swinging arm are placed a friction wheel 29 and a sprocket wheel 30 arranged side by side and fastened together. A sprocket chain 31 passes around the two sprocket wheels 27 and 30 so that, when the friction wheel 29 is rotated, the end gate will also be rotated. The parts are so proportioned that when the vehicle body is in a dumping position, the friction wheel 29. which preferably has a corrugated concave periphery, will rest on the rim or tire of the adjacent rear traction wheel 11. Therefore, when the parts are in dumping positions as indicated in Fig. 4:, a forward movement of the vehicle will cause a rotation of the end gate in the direction of the arrow, that is in the clockwise direction, at a speed depending upon the gear ratios. The two spur gears are preferably made unequal in diameter so that, by interchanging them, a variation in speed may be obtained. Similarly the two sprocket wheels may be made unequal in diameter. so that by interchanging these two wheels, a still further speed adjustment may be affected. In this way the total angular movement of the end gate per foot of forward travel of the vehicle tion wheel must be held firmly against the driving wheel. In the arrangement shown, a bracket 32' projects outwardly from the side of the vehicle body above the free end of the swinging arm. The free ends of the straps constituting the swinging arm are connected together by a yoke 33 having a screw-threaded stem 34 that passes loosely up through the bracket. On the stem, above the bracket is a nut 35 that serves to hold the swinging arm in a rest position when they dumping body is horizontal. Surrounding the stem, between the bracket and the yoke, is a coiled spring 36. The parts are soproportioned that the spring is either under an initial compression or is compressed when the vehicle body assumes the dumping position and drops the friction wheel down on the traction wheel, whereby the friction wheel is held yieldingly, and with a considerable degree of pressure, against the treadof the traction wheel.

If desired, an extension 40, consisting of sides and a curved bottom plate may be fastened to the rear end of the vehicle body, and compel the material to travel rearwardly a considerable distance beyond the rear edge of the bottom of the dumping body before it will be discharged upon the ground. This attachment is useful to prevent an uneven flow of dry material such as sand or gravel, by preventing the material that is following after the lowermost vane from being finally discharged until the next succeeding vane is in position to check any free flow from the main mass of material in the vehicle body. I

while I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangement which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a wheeled vehicle having a dumping body. provided with a discharge outlet and adapted to move between a dumping position and a transporting position, of a measuring gate for said outlet, driving mechanism for said gate including a driving wheel and a movable sup-, port therefor mounted on said body, said driving mechanism being so located that said driving wheel is engaged with the tread of one of the vehicle wheels when the body is in its dumping position and is held clear of said vehicle wheel when the body is in its transporting position, and a spring between said support and said body adapted to be compressed when the said driving wheel is engaged with the vehicle wheel. 2. The combination with a vehicle having a dump body provided with a discharge outlet and adapted to move between a dumping position and a transporting position and having a wheel that rotates when the vehicle is moving ahead, of a measuring gate for said outlet, and driving mechanism for said gate including a driving wheel, said driving mechanism being mounted on said body in such a position that when the body is in its dumping position said driving wheel is held against the first-mentioned wheel to be driven thereby, whereas when the body is in its transporting position the driving wheel is held clear of the other wheel.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification.

EDGAR O. LITCHFIELD. 

